Lots of Happenings

So it has been awhile since I have posted anything...so sorry! We have been quite busy here. We are looking forward to staying longer and found a house that we will be moving into March 1st. Between the ministry and taking care of house stuff, and new job stuff for both Jason and myself, on top of having wonderful company it has been non-stop!
We went to the flower festival when our family, MOM and Barb, first arrived. It as so beautiful.We got to play tour guide while Barbara was here. We rented a car for two days and split it three ways. We also went to the beach for the first time since we moved to Panama. We will definitely not wait another three months.

We had a going away party for the Sanders and are preparing for another one that will be much bigger, the whole congregation this time. We are so sad and happy at the same time. The Sanders family has become our family and now they are leaving and helping out where there is a need in Nicaragua! We know Jehovah will bless their efforts to put him first, but they will be terribly missed!
The ministry has been going better as we are adapting to the way we approach people we meet that are native English speakers. We all have a few return visits and I have one bible study now as does Danielle. 
My Spanish is improving as I am very diligent at never missing a lesson even if I have to stay up until midnight or 1am I do my lessons! I am still a beginner and speak like a two year old when I speak , but I can tell it is improving!
Our plans are  come visit for the District Convention in St. Charles but we are not 100% sure if we will make it then or not. Finances being a major play on our return. We love and miss all our friends and family back home. And I will try to do better about keeping the blog updated!

                                           The Spanish brothers and sisters out in the ministry

                                   

Dylan and Danielle

Flowers at the Festival

Wanda, Myself, Barbara, Rolene, and Danielle

Barbara, Dylan, Jason, Teena, Danielle, and Rolene

Crossing the Bridge to the Festival

 Jason, Barb, and the kids went with a group from the Congregation to Gualaca to swim in the Caldera River

I Love this Picture!

   Mom, Myself, Barb, and Danielle across from the Waterfall

                                           Waterfall with the "children" playing in it and Mom

                                                    The river across from the Waterfall

                                                               Playing in the Waterfall

                                                         The View from Cafe Mirador

                                                       One of our many scary bridges

                                                    The start of the trail up Volcan Baru

                                             The view from the trail head of Volcan Baru

                                                           Views from Volcancito Road

                                           We just came from the road you see in the distance

                                              Many beautiful drives

the boys had been misbehaving

Look at that beautiful beach hair (Whitney, April, and Aribey)

                                                                 "the Hulk Smash"

                                                         Jason is in the palm of my hand!

Look at our beautiful children! (Danielle,Dylan,Aribey,Kamerin,and Alyvia)

                                                 Jump if you are having fun at the beach!

More poses Aribey had us do. We are no Charlie's Angels!

This one was fun! Can you guess which one is me?

Change of Plans

Our plans to go to Nicaragua did not quite work out. We had been praying for Jehovah's direction and wanting to know what he wanted for our family since we felt unclear on what we should do. The first trip to David to get the bus fare to San Jose we were very excited and then we get there and TraCopa was closed. Very disappointed and my heart was aching! When we got back the Sander's women went home (Aribey and Lori) to tell the news to Ted and I headed to tell Jason. Jason and I both did a lot of praying and then decided that we would try again the next day with the Sanders but if it did not work out then we had told Jehovah in prayer that maybe this was not our time to go. So the next morning we got ready and Jason and Ted were going to get a ride from Brother Liston to David. Before they left Ted came and wanted to talk with us as a loving brother and make sure that we were really "counting the cost" before making the trip. So again we were having what we felt was another sign from Jehovah that maybe we were not suppose to go. Jason and I however decided to stick with our prayers and try to get the tickets one more time. So off to David they went. They arrived at 11:40 am, one would think plenty of time considering the office did not close until 4:30 pm. The lady at the ticket office says "We stop selling at 11:30"!  Brother Liston then kindly took Ted and Jason to Pricesmart and back home they headed, with no tickets. We felt then that we could not go against our prayers to Jehovah so we did not make the trip the next day. We were brokenhearted but felt we had made a wise decision. That Wednesday instead of getting tickets we went in the ministry and Jehovah blessed our efforts, I started my first bible study! Friday we baked pizza with the permission of the Sanders to use their oven while they were gone and it was delicious. Saturday after service the kids jumped on the Sanders trampoline and Danielle asked the neighbor girl that came over to jump also, if she would want to study the bible with her. She said "yes" and was so excited because she had never seen a bible in English. I would say, sometimes,with disappointment comes a blessing.

Veggie Pizza - Peppers, Onions, Saurkraut, and Tofu Ricotta 

w/ Homemade Sauce

Taco Pizza w/ Homemade "Cheeze" Sauce